More bad news!!

[jhalcott]

wife and I went to the LAST local WalMart that SOLD GUNS! As of today they no longer sell firearms. I asked the clerk about buying the last 2/3 on the rack. He said they had to send them all back to the manufacturers! The ran almost all the small gunshops out of bussiness buy under cutting prices, now they stop selling guns. The clerk said they intend to continue selling ammo ,etc., but not firearms!!. I asked why there was NO notice of this action. No radio ad or even the fliers I get twice a week? He replied ,We didn't want a run on guns!

[JSH]

IMHO, wally world can keep all of their stuff. I try not to got to them any more than I have too. They ran a lot of small gun shops and bait and tackle places out around here. Don't forget all the mom and pop stores and the small towns they have ruined.
They say how much of a service and so forth the give to the community, then want all this and that basically for free. So then the city gives them a lot of tax cuts and so forth. Then they come up with a super wally world. Just down the road from me a bit there was a wwm and grocery store side by side, handy place. They decide to build a swm, move across the road and the grocery store and the small shops around it go belly up.
Enough of my rant, but I know I am not alone in my feelings about this subject.
Jeff

[rmb721]

I know of three Wal-Marts in my area that are going to stop selling firearms.

[SharpsShooter]

IMHO, wally world can keep all of their stuff. I try not to got to them any more than I have too. They ran a lot of small gun shops and bait and tackle places out around here. Don't forget all the mom and pop stores and the small towns they have ruined.
They say how much of a service and so forth the give to the community, then want all this and that basically for free. So then the city gives them a lot of tax cuts and so forth. Then they come up with a super wally world. Just down the road from me a bit there was a wwm and grocery store side by side, handy place. They decide to build a swm, move across the road and the grocery store and the small shops around it go belly up.
Enough of my rant, but I know I am not alone in my feelings about this subject.
Jeff

Ditto in spades. WM came into this area and local business simply vanished overnight. The broadcast company that I was engineering for at the time lost so much local advertising revenue that my full time position had to be elimiated and relegated to an "as needed" or "emergency repair" basis. Needless to say, that didn't pay the bills and I ended up moving on to another company. They were a good group to work for and it all came down to WM influencing the local market in a negative fashion.

I do not buy there, period.


SS

[monadnock#5]

There was a short news brief in The American Rifleman a number of years ago on ammo sales at Walmart. The gist of it was that most people buy their ammo at Walmart. The surprising part was that most purchases were impulse buys by moms and dads on their way from electronics to the toilet paper aisle. The conclusion was that if Wally World ever decides to stop selling ammo, the whole shooting industry, and all its devoted fans (me included), will end up taking it right in the neck.

Ken

[Rustybob]

wal mart stopped selling handguns when someone supposedley used one in a crime.but they sell the abortion pill.go figger

[Texasflyboy]

wife and I went to the LAST local WalMart that SOLD GUNS!

Just my opinion, but that's the best news I've heard in a long time. I wish *all* the Wal-Marts in my area would stop selling guns.

The few mom and pop style gunstores we have left are having a hard enough time staying afloat, with the arrival of the Internet, they were able to make ends meet (with places like Auction Arms and eBay) but Wal-Mart is/was impossible to compete with when folks will buy their supplies there instead of a local place.

I am sometimes tempted to buy value packs of ammo at Wal-Mart if and when I happen to be in the store. The one thing that I always remember is the look, smell, and feeling I get when I go to the mom and pop place and smell all that gun oil, leather, and history.

I rarely walk out of Wal-Mart happy about a purchase I made there. I am always happy when I walk out of the Mom and Pop place, even if I don't buy a thing (but I usually do).

Just my .02

[Hunter]

The same thing thing happened to me. When I asked the, clerk said there was very little interest in them in the area. I told him I did not believe that was the truth. There is one a little closer that still sells them.
I go there when I have to.

[Junior1942]

A 16 oz package of coffee is $5.39 in one local supermarket and $5.99 in another one. A 39 oz can of coffee is $5.64 at Wal-mart. They taste the same.

[Shepherd2]

Did Wal-Mart ever sell handguns? They were around for a long time before I ever went in one. Maybe that was before my time.

We have a Wal-Mart north of us that looks like they are getting out of guns. The one south was fully stocked with guns last week and also sells reloading equipment and supplies.

[wills]

Wal*Mart is open after 5:00 P. M. weekdays. Wal*Mart is open all day Saturday. Wal*Mart is open Sunday.

If your office hours are 8-5 downtown, and it’s an hour drive home, where mom and pop run the store, you won’t get there before they close.

Mom and pop set their own hours; many times they choose to set them when their potential customers can’t get to the store.

[ron brooks]

Back in the early seventies I reaad an article on running a gunstore. One of the things that I remember from it, and I considered it at the time a really good suggestion for many types of businesses which is open later and stay open later, as in if you want an 8 hour day, don't be open from 8-5, be open from 12 -8 or 9 so that your customers can come in after they get off work.

Ron

[carpetman]

Ron Brooks--Open later and stay open later. Sorta like fishing when the fish bite. That same principle worked when I was an Air Force recruiter---folks didn't set an alarm clock to come see me,so why should I set mine to be there? Sounds obvious. My competitors viewed me as working bankers hours--but I did more business than they did.

[Willbird]

Well some of these mom and pop stores (not GUN stores per se but stores in general) Got away with MURDER back in the day, I was born in 1964 and we moved to the small town I grew up in in 1967. This is about 20 miles from Toledo ohio. The price of sugar would DOUBLE during canning season every year. People finally started to carpool to Toledo to grocery shop every couple weeks and saved 25% or more on their grocery bills by doing so.

Walmart is the ONLY store anywhere near me where I can buy Hebrew national hotdogs.....I tried them and liked them.

I now live in Montpelier, OH and the local grocery is a JOKE...you can't even buy brand name frozen lasagne there, some generic brand is all they have. I don't know how many times I have went in there to get something and they didnt have it.

When I was a kid growing up you could buy darn near everything you needed in my small town...sure you could drive 20 miles and find more choices.

Most people have selective memory I think because wayyyyyy back when my dad bought guns (including an 03a3 springfield) from Rinks bargian city, and we bought guns and ammo from Kmart too. my first new gun I bought when I turned 18 was a 20 gauge topper from KMart :-). Western Auto had their own line of guns.............as did Sears and Roebuck, all in competition with the poor little local gun store...........the biggest boon for the local gun store was the 1968 act...and how we all LOVE that eh ?? Before that a lot of people mail ordered their guns. Mass marketing of guns by large chain stores has been around my whole life...it isnt something walmart invented to put local gun stores out of business.

Don't get me wrong, there is a local store I frequant in Holland, OH, I have shopped there since it was in the owners garage behind his house....he remembers that too, I know full well how much more it costs me to shop there (10%-15%) and it is worth every penny. If I buy a rifle and a scope they put the scope on and bore sight it, that way we know the rings will work out...thats free of charge. They even will do that if I'm only buying the scope, or buying the rifle there.

Bill

[Charley]

It's amazing, Walmart has been getting out of gun sales at many locations for almost a year. The topic has been beaten to death on every shooting/outdoor board I have seen on the net. It has been covered in most shooting publications, the NRA has covered it, along with many business reports.

There are still folks just noticing it posting on at least three boards in the last two days. Suspended animation or off planet on vacation are the only explainations I can come up with.

[Shepherd2]

We have a small store run by mom, pop and 2 sons that undersells Wal-Mart when it comes to firearms, ammo and reloading supplies. Mom told me once that she built the place as an unholstery shop. Now it's a mini mart with milk, bread, guns, fishing tackle, tires and auto repair. No upholstery but they've got a lot of other stuff packed in there. They open later and stay open later so they are still there when people get off work. It gets pretty busy about 4PM.

When I decide I want to buy a new gun I shop around and find the best price and then go down to the little store and give the son who handles the gun business the stock number of what I want. That way there is no question about what I want. I don't give him the price I already have. He'll get on the phone and find what I'm looking for. Sometimes it takes a day or too and he'll call with the price. Usually I get the price within a few minutes. He always beats the competition. Once it was only $9 but it's usually $40-50 or more. For my son one time it was $200.

I mostly use Federal primers which they don't normally carry. I'll order a case of primers or some powder and they will have them shipped in with their order so I don't have to pay the HazMat fee. I may have to wait a couple weeks so I don't run completely out before I order. I know lots of dealers have special order stuff shipped in with their regular order and still charge you the HazMat. Some won't bother to order for you to begin with.

Our little mom and pop store down hasn't been closed down by Wal-Mart and it doesn't look like they will. I'd sure miss them if they were gone. Besides guns and reloading gear they are my main source of WWs.

[MT Gianni]

There was an old shop in Pocatello Id 25 years ago that was always about $20 higher on pistols. What happened if you bought it there was you got a used holster and a box of ammo or used dies as "throw-ins". If you wanted the cheapest deal around you went elsewhere but got less. Gianni.

[wills]

Niche retailing, the alternative to mass merchandizing.

So many small town merchants have had a monopoly so long they don’t deliver either service of low prices, and when faced with capitalism, don’t realize they have to compete.

[carpetman]

Mt Gianni---You mention gun shop in Pocatello,Id about 25 years ago. Did you perhaps know Bill Williams that had the Gun Barn there?

[Ricochet]

Yes, Wal-Mart was still selling handguns in the late '70s, at least.

[Freightman]

There was a hardware store that always had what I wanted but they got old ( like me) and retired. They closed the store down rather than sell as they didn't want there name on the business to ruin there repetation which I understand. I sure miss them as the chains are all that is left and there employees are DUMB when it comes to hardware (not there fault) they haven't been trained. We live in a different world the one I grew up in is long gone and aint comming back.
If you can keep the independent in do it cause once he shuts down he will not be back.

[MT Gianni]

Carpetman, Yea I was in there fairly often when that was the 55 mile trip into town for groceries, dinner and a movie. I haven't been back for more than gas since 87 though. Gianni.

[MTWeatherman]

Heard about WalMart closing their gun counter must have been about a year ago. I don't go to WalMart all that often and hardly ever for sporting goods...no primers or powder. Last summer I was in the local Great Falls Walmart and asked the sporting goods manager about the rumor. He said that WalMart is only closing those stores that have low firearm sales...he said he sincerely doubted that the Great Falls store would ever make that list.

I was in there a month or so ago...new firearms display with expanded selection...apparently accomplished last fall. The former couple of turnstiles with rifles and shotguns were gone and replaced with a large display behind a greatly expanded counter. Doubt they would do that if they planned to close it.

Think that manager was telling the truth.

[Willbird]

The story we got here was they were closing the gun sales in urban areas, the one in bryan ohio, napoleon ohio, waseon ohio did stop, the one in Angola. IN still has guns.




Bill

[mike in co]

wal mart stopped selling handguns when someone supposedley used one in a crime.but they sell the abortion pill.go figger

wm stop selling hand guns when an employee was shot by an (idiot) customer.
all handguns had trigger locks, the customer asked to see gun without the lock. was told co policy was no. went out to car got another handgun and shot the employee..........
this happened in spring vally or el cajon right by san diego.

seemed stupid to me at the time...the trigger lock worked....

most stores have problems selling handguns because they cannot afford to advertise them.
the press will not allow blow in ad sheets, only print ads in the sports sections at very high prices.
big five quit selling handguns for this very reason ...no way to advertise the product.

[uscra112]

I live in central (lower) Michigan.

I dunno if the WM in Howell sells guns or not - I won't go in there. But the Meier's (local Michigan big box competitor) still does. Not that I care - I wouldn't buy a gun there either.

Within a mile of both is a good small retailer that sells guns, fishing stuff, outdoor clothes, some camping gear, bait, and nothing else, and they have some real good gun people behind the counter. If a man needs expert help, he gets it. Their prices ain't bad, either. A Dunham's opened up across the street, and they carry some guns and ammo and supplies, but I doubt they'll run Dick's out of business either. Buying a piece of equipment like a gun needs after-sale service. Try getting THAT from the big-box store.

The reason the local Montpelier market doesn't carry the big name brand is that Wal-Mart's deal with the maker is direct, while the M&P has to buy thru a distributor. If they can even get one to deliver to them. I see the same thing around here. (I live WAY outside Howell!) WM provides basic needs at very low prices, because their huge computer-controlled organization is much more efficient at delivering goods than the pre-computer distribution system, where goods passed through 2 or 3 middlemen before they got to the retailer. That old system is dying, and that's just a fact of life.

Now, if WM don't wanta sell guns/ammo/supplies, well and good. The small, full service retailer has just had the niche handed back to him. Grab it and go!

[calkar]

wake up! conglomos approch finance as war. once mom and pops are out of the way they will gouge us big time. the low prices at wally world ect. are only temp. look at history that is the greatest teacher!

[Wayne Smith]

A totally different take on the matter - I was at the range last Saturday and a guy with his son of about 16 sat down beside me with a new Remington bolt in 30-06 and scope. Sat up on the 50yd line. I had a spotting scope and called the son's attempts to shoot, shots all over two targets, couldn't seem to find vertical consistency. Dad sat down with it and fooled with it for a minute and it went off, suprising both of us. He did it again, and agin it went off - by manipulating the safety! This in a new gun bought at WalMart. I told him to take it back and get his money back.

I'm not impressed with Remington's quality control and don't expect much in service at the local WM.

[Texasflyboy]

I'd like to clarify my point about Wal-Mart with this addition.

I understand and accept that Wal-Mart has refined the delivery of goods down to the bare essentials and offers wide choice at the lowest possible price.

I guess I was trying to say (in a poor way) that there will always, always, be retailers that rise to the top of the heap in a capitalistic society like Wal-Mart.

But, mom and pop gunstores, (and for that matter, mom and pop hardware stores, feed stores, and general stores) were the part of Americana that I always found comforting. I never felt out of place in a feed store, general store, or gunstore.

I sure feel out of place in a Wal-Mart.


When I was 12 years old I paid for and purchased a pump action Mossberg 500 20ga at the local gunstore. The owner picked up the phone, called my dad, who approved the purchase. I walked out the back of the store to their firing range and shot a box of #9's at clay birds to break it in. That was 1975.

In 1999, 24 years later, I walked into the same store, and the owner, now 84 years old, looked at me (he had not laid eyes on me since I moved away in 1989) asked me how my Model 500 was shooting. I replied "Just fine, as always. I was shooting clay birds with it last weekend and thought of you". He didn't remember my name, but he remembered the kid and that shotgun.

Find that at Wal-Mart.

That's what I was trying to say about my affection towards mom and pop stores vs. Wal-Mart.:-D

[texas tenring]

Great story!!! Texasflyboy I agree comepletly.